WESTPORT — Two brothers have been charged with a hate crime in connection with the robbery and desecration of St. John the Baptist Church earlier this month, police said.

Martin Cutler, 29, of 73 Broadway Ave., Taunton, and Jesse Cutler, 27, of 23H Baker's Lane, Bourne, are charged with breaking and entering in the nighttime with intent to commit a felony, malicious damage to real property, larceny over $250, a civil rights violation, destruction of a place of worship over $5,000 and a hate crime, causing property damage to intimidate, according to Westport police. Martin Cutler is also charged with use of infected bodily fluids to injure or kill, according to Detective Jeffrey Majewski. He said Martin Cutler has hepatitis C and urinated in the church's holy water.

The holy water was thrown out when the church was reconsecrated. Majewski said he contacted the Westport Board of Health and the state Department of Public Health to notify them.

The initial motive for the break is "unknown" but once the brothers entered the church, they were intent on committing a hate crime, Majewski said.

"This is as disgusting as anything I've seen in my 23 years in police work — to urinate in the holy water with the hepatitis C virus," he said Monday.

Martin Cutler was arraigned Monday in Fall River District Court and Judge Thomas Barrett ordered him held on $15,000 cash bail. The judge also revoked his bail on four pending breaking-and-entering charges out of Wareham District Court. Prosecutor Keith Paquette said Martin Cutler also has convictions out of Taunton District Court for distributing drugs and a break-in.

Police arrested the elder Cutler, Martin, on Saturday in his apartment in Taunton.

During the day Saturday, Martin Cutler had threatened one of the witnesses who had cooperated with the Westport investigation, police said.

As he was led out of the courtroom, family members and friends shouted "Keep your head up, Martin" and "Love you."

Police obtained an arrest warrant Monday for Jesse Cutler's arrest, according to Majewski. No date has been set for his arraignment.

St. John the Baptist Church, located at 945 Main Road, was broken into between March 1 and March 2 and sustained extensive damage to several sacred items. The tabernacle, chalices, a Roman Missal prayer book and other religious items were stolen, a statue was turned to its side and a crucifix was damaged.

The Rev. Leonard P. Hindsley, the pastor, said in a statement the church is pleased charges have been brought in the case.

"The parishioners have been praying for closure of these horrible events and for a spirit of Christian forgiveness for the profanation of the church and the Eucharist," he said.

Police had been actively investigating the case the past two weeks when they received a lead from Mattapoisett police on Friday.

Detective Sgt. Antonio Cestodio, public information officer for the Westport Police Department, said authorities in Mattapoisett had received information that stolen artifacts from the theft were concealed inside a vehicle in their town.

A joint investigation between Mattapoisett and Westport investigators led police to stop that vehicle in Rochester, he said.

Officers searched the vehicle, a Subaru Forester, and discovered plastic bags with the tabernacle, which had been broken into pieces, along with broken chalices and other religious items, according to police.

Mattapoisett police arrested the driver of the vehicle, Leah Wilhelmsen of Mattapoisett, and charged her with receiving stolen property, according to Majewski. The woman's age was not readily available.

As a result of interviews conducted by police Friday, the prayer book and other stolen items were recovered after they had been kept in an apartment in Bourne, Cestodio said. Additional stolen items were found on Longwood Avenue in New Bedford, police said. The items were broken.

Westport police said detectives learned that some of the religious metal items had been damaged and turned into a local scrap yard for less than $68.

Police also said that at least eight people participated in either the theft and/or concealment of the crime by hiding the stolen items. Most of those people had been interviewed by Westport police during the investigation during the past two weeks but had lied to police, Cestodio said.